What's the best thread for bulb-cam?

[gemniii]

Just got one, lot’s of new to me terms, Instructions ? What instructions?

How does start time work? How does it choose sunset? many unanswered questions.

What’s the best thread or should I just send it back.

[habib]

You won’t find any instructions. I don’t own one but I am guessing setting up would be as intuitive as any other camera. As for start time, sunset and such, those would be in automations. There are few members who own one of these cameras, they might chime and guide you through.

[Crease]

I don’t know if there’s a “best”. You can always search existing topics using that tag. Just asking questions is good, too.

@gemniii

Instructions ? What instructions?

I don’t understand what this is trying to ask. What additional detail can you provide?

@gemniii

How does start time work?

There are two different Start Time settings:

•  Settings ➜ Bulb Settings ➜ Motion ➜ Schedule ➜ Start Time is where you can define the time window when you want the Bulb Cam’s light to turn on (at whatever percentage you set) when it detects motion (or Persons, Pets, etc., if you have the Cam on a subscription).
•  Settings ➜ Bulb Settings ➜ Ambient Light ➜ Schedule ➜ Start Time is where you can define the time window when you want the Bulb Cam’s light to turn on regardless of motion, and that can be at a different brightness percentage.

I use these with different settings depending upon the camera’s location:

@Crease

That’s similar to what I do: Ambient Light at the driveway and porch set to 40% from 15′ p̄ sunset to 30′ ā sunrise with a bump to 100% if a person or vehicle is detected (too many cats and rabbits wandering across to leave pet detections on). The deck has one with Ambient Light at 10% that bumps to 20% if a person or pet is detected, because I want to throw just a little more light if the dog shows up there, and that one turns off at midnight. Although I think more light output and options like colors or tuning the white would be cool, I like the flexibility these give with the scheduling and dimmer control.

@gemniii

How does it choose sunset?

This should be based on your location, and I’m not entirely sure how Wyze determines this. I’ve seen the app ask me for my location and present me with a map, but I’ve also opted to manually enter my home’s location at  Account ➜ Home. I’ve had inconsistent experiences with some time-based features of Wyze products (Vacation Mode on certain Plugs and Bulb Colors), but Bulb Cam seems to respect my desired settings for scheduling the light features.

[gemniii]

Well it sure would be nice if someone could copy all the pertinent information and definitions into the FAQ page on the support page. I can’t understand why Wyze puts out product with such minimal instructions and definitions.

Thanks for the link to the 6/3/25 thread. But there are still a bunch of unanswered questions which I will only find out when I run across problems.

One special question - Where is “Home”?

I’ve cameras running in Mississippi and Virginia.

Sunrise/Sunset Today in Mississippi - 6:24/7:29 CST

Sunrise/Sunset Today in Virginia - 6:33/7:49 EST

They are all set manually to reflect local time, but presently “Home” for all in my account is set to Mississippi. I see no option for setting “Home” elsewhere. Am I the only Wyze owner with cameras in separate time zones?

When I just set my bulb-cam (which is in Virginia) for sunrise/sunset it didn’t present me with a map.

[Crease]

@gemniii

One special question - Where is “Home”?

I don’t know, but I imagine that it’s wherever you tell the app your home is at at  Account ➜ Home. At least that’s what I’d expect as a user. Personally, I’ve experienced a lot of time-based function problems with Wyze, particularly when it comes to certain device types turning on and off at the wrong times when Vacation Mode is enabled. They act like they’re in another time zone entirely, several hours from where I actually live.

I think at least part of the problem is that (as far as I know) Wyze hasn’t actually created provisions for users with multiple locations, and that’s been discussed quite a bit in the Forum. Just last year, I suggested this:

Multiple location tag in app

This is what I’d like to see, since my Wyze account/profile is capable of storing my physical address: From the app’s  Home screen, at  Account ➜ Home, they should include a (add) button to add other physical locations to a user’s profile/account. If a user has more than one location listed on this screen, then the user should be able to select one location as the default location. Tapping on an address should provide a facility that lists (checklist fashion) every Wyze device associated with…

I haven’t seen any particular progress with that Wishlist request, though.

@gemniii

Am I the only Wyze owner with cameras in separate time zones?

Clearly you’re not, as you’ve voted for (and commented in) a related Wishlist topic. Searching the Forum yields many other topics where people discuss having problems with different devices in different time zones and/or with devices changing their reported times to synchronize with a phone’s clock when a user’s phone has changed time zones because of travel. Then there are the issues with people in time zones that are offset from others by a half hour, like in parts of Canada. It just gives me the impression that Wyze hasn’t devoted adequate time or resources to correctly address all the issues with time that affect their products.

Since you use Android, one potential solution could be to Run Current and Old Versions of the App at the Same Time (Android only) 📱 and use a separate Wyze account for each app instance (so each would have a different “Home” location specified). That might be more trouble than it’s worth, because it would require setting up devices at one location under an entirely new account, but it’s one possible way to work around the problem.

I really just wish it didn’t seem like time was an afterthought with Wyze or that they would actually solve these problems so that the user experience would make more sense. If they actually have an answer, then I think at this point they haven’t shared it with the rest of us.